Alexander Petrovich Bourago was an eminent military figure. He graduated from the Nikolaevsko Military Cavalry School in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. Captain Bourago was the comander of a cavalry squadron of dragoons, that in the night of January 4th, 1878, passed through the icy waters of the Maritsa River and was the first to enter Plovdiv as a liberator. The withdrawing Turkish army parts had already started putting houses and workshops to fire but the unexpected coming of the rushing dragoons in the middle of the night caused panic and the Turks fled outside the city, not knowing that the frightening squadron consisted of just 63 dragoons and the remaining part of the Russian army was much farther behind.
Alexander Bourago died on the island of Madeira, as Colonel, at the age of just 30. He was buried in Sankt Petersburg.
On March 3rd, 1969, in the former City Garden of Plovdiv (more popular as the Dondukov Garden) next to the Museum of Natural History, a monument to Captain Bourago was formally unveiled in honor of that brave Russian ofiicer.
For more info, go to: PGuide / Plovdiv’s Liberation from the Turkish rule.